


Wanted on Voyage

by eversingingleaves



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, OT3, Polydins, Possibly Unrequited Love, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, hunk feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 06:52:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8276746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eversingingleaves/pseuds/eversingingleaves
Summary: Hunk was losing him, and it was entirely okay and cool and fine. For sure. Not a big deal- it’s not like he’d ever really expressed anything towards Lance than the same brotherly affection he showed everyone- right? They’d just shared some of their deepest secrets, their best moments, their most ridiculous adventures (mostly Lance’s idea)- all of that together but it was all just bros being bros. Clearly, that’s what it had been. Hunk was reading things wrong, had been reading things wrong for years now, because his best friend- the other half of his duo- his inseparable self- was looking at Keith like he lit a fire in Lance’s chest.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Unrequited crushes are the worst, bros.

“Not bad, actually. Go again,” Shiro called down to the two paladins, watching them spar from the high observation window. The red and blue-suited boys took their places and resumed, sweat darkening their training gear as they grappled.

“Five bucks on Keith,” Pidge muttered to Hunk next to him. The yellow paladin snorted and held out his hand to shake.

“Deal. Lance’s got him for sure this time.” Hunk sounded far more confident than he actually was.

“Not such a hot shot now, are ya?” Lance taunted, using his surprising flexibility to flip their positions and knock Keith on his back. The dark-haired paladin smirked up at Lance, breaking his hold without much effort in a quick jab to Lance’s chest. It knocked the breath out of him and Keith escaped entirely, rolling out of reach and springing to his feet. He rolled his eyes at the way Lance clutched his chest, wheezing.

“I save my breath for actually doing what I’m supposed to,” Keith shot back, stretching. He turned his back to Lance and started to call up to Shiro when he was hit from behind with a flying tackle.

Shiro snickered despite himself. 

“You almost ready to get in there?” he asked Hunk. The paladin shrugged, focusing on the two sparring down below with a wistful look. Shiro glanced at him and then clasped his shoulder, misinterpreting his trepidation.

“You’ll do fine. You and Lance sparred at the Garrison before, right? Adding Keith to the mix will allow you all to get used to fighting when you’re outnumbered. It’s a team-building exercise, isn’t it?” The older paladin smiled at him in what they had secretly deemed the ‘Space Dad is Proud of You’ look.

Hunk rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged.

“It’ll be fine, yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”

-  
After what would turn into some impressive bruising on all sides, Shiro called a halt. Hunk lay flat on his back, exhausted; he’d kept up with the quicker paladins, but only just barely. His strength was greater than theirs, but combined Lance and Keith and Hunk were evenly matched. 

“Let’s just hope I never have to wrestle Zarkon for the fate of the universe,” Hunk groaned, feeling every bruise and strain.   
Keith offered him a hand up, grinning down at Hunk.

“Up you go, Big Guy. A few more training sessions like that, and you probably could,” he said, helping Hunk to find his feet.

“It might be worth it if I got to punch Zarkon in the face,” Lance crowed, somehow still energetic despite the punishing session. While Keith was helping Hunk to his feet, Lance slipped Red’s bayard from Keith’s belt. He danced away, cackling maniacally. 

“Who’s got more breath now, huh? Huh?” He shot off towards the showers, Keith cursing a red streak in hot pursuit. Hunk followed at a more sedate pace, sore and moving like it.

“He couldn’t be more obvious if he pulled Keith’s pigtails,” Pidge muttered to Hunk once he’d cleared the training deck. They offered Hunk a small container of bright blue goop.  
“This’ll probably help those bruises- either that, or give you mutant powers. Wanna be my tester?” they asked, a maniacal gleam shining off their glasses. “Either way, science makes progress.”

Hunk laughed nervously, glancing past to the locker room- what they’d dubbed the locker room, as it had no locks and very little privacy. He could hear the paladins’ bickering from out here.

“Sure, yeah. But if I end up purple and scary, I’m coming after you first,” Hunk said, taking the jar carefully. He headed off to clean up and try and ward off most of the arguing.

-

Hunk was losing him, and it was entirely okay and cool and fine. For sure. Not a big deal- it’s not like he’d ever really expressed anything towards Lance than the same brotherly affection he showed everyone- right? They’d just shared some of their deepest secrets, their best moments, their most ridiculous adventures (mostly Lance’s idea)- all of that together but it was all just bros being bros. Clearly, that’s what it had been. Hunk was reading things wrong, had been reading things wrong for years now, because his best friend- the other half of his duo- his inseparable self- was looking at Keith like he lit a fire in Lance’s chest.

Most would read it as disgust, as rivalry- but Hunk knew Lance better than anyone- and it was interest. Attraction that came across as one-upmanship, that came across as ugly insults and flustered commentary- this was Lance’s truth. All that false confidence and extravagant flirting with anything that moved was just a front. It was how he thought he was supposed to act.

Hunk knew it, had borne witness to the many defeats of the classic approach- had been there to hug it out- but this was something new. It was something more raw, more needy, more than what he and Lance shared. What he thought they’d shared.

Hunk fiddled with the gear box in front of him, lost in the yawning chasm inside his chest as Lance prattled on about something cool Blue had done earlier. The compressor in the control panel rattled as Lance draped himself along the console. Lanky arms drifted down, gesturing as Lance continued to talk. Hunk made just enough non-committal noises to keep Lance talking; it wasn’t something he liked to do, but he couldn’t concentrate on both Lance and the electrical engineering without something catching fire.

He barely noticed when Lance stopped talking, engrossed in his tinkering and the swirling mess of his emotional state. Lance shifted, finally sensing something was wrong, and hung upside down to face Hunk. He waved his hands back and forth in front of the yellow paladin’s face, trying to grab his attention.

“Hunk. Buddy. You’re soldering those wires to the housing and even I know what’s not how it goes,” Lance said, frowning at him- still completely inverted.

“What- Ah-” He looked up finally, making eye contact with Lance. For a moment, their eyes met and his pulse thudded loud in his ears. Hunk’s moment of distraction cost him as a blob of hot solder fell into his palm, hissing as it burned his skin. He yelped, jerking back and hitting his head on the pillar of the control panel with a dull thud.

Hunk groaned, blowing on his burned hand and rubbing the back of his head the the other. 

“Here- let me-” Lance started. He overbalanced, sliding off the console in his attempt to help Hunk get out. They both ended up in a pile on the floor of the control room in a tangle of limbs. 

“Well, you still make an excellent crash pad,” Lance said, grinning at Hunk as he slid away. “Thanks for catching me, bro.”

Hunk sat up with a groan, carefully avoiding the edge of the counter. He peered at his palm; it had already started to blister. Lance was chuckling at their situation, looking expectantly at Hunk.

“Yeah. Anytime. That’s what I’m here for, right? To catch you when you fall,” Hunk said, without his usual earnest kindness. He stood, offering a hand up to Lance. The other man took it, using it to leverage himself up and into a hug. Hunk accepted the touch, but didn’t reciprocate.

“I’m glad you’re here with me, man. Wouldn’t be right without you,” Lance said, pulling away and punching his shoulder lightly. Hunk half-smiled down at him and shrugged.

“I’m gonna go take care of this. See you in a bit,” Hunk muttered, shuffling off towards the med bay. 

Lance started to call after him, but gave up before the words were out of his mouth. He bit his bottom lip, worrying it with his teeth as Hunk slid out of view. Lance had fucked up, again, like he always did- like he always would- and he never knew how to fix it. First Keith, now Hunk? He wasn’t even sure why he was here anymore. One day slid into another, one emergency into another dumpster fire into another flaming fuck-up, and they were mostly his fault. Lance knew it but couldn’t stop himself- his mouth had always been faster than his brain. He ran a hand through his hair, rubbing at the back of his neck as he stared at the doorway Hunk had left through.

Hunk shuffled down the hallways, now as familiar to him as the Garrisons’; even lost in thought he could find his way. He rubbed at the blister in his palm, sucking in air through his teeth. He couldn’t stop worrying at it; the burn was his anxiety marked on his very flesh.Looking at Lance was starting to burn, like looking at the sun, like rubbing his blister. It hurt, twisting at a point inside his ribs, and he couldn’t make it stop- not when those blue eyes were smiling at him, not when Lance touched him, called him brother, friend. He needed space and time to get over it.

Hunk glanced out at one of the airlocks as he passed.

He wanted space? Space he had. 

-


End file.
